42" build in Central Texas

[Novaslo]

Day one of training out here in Los Angeles in the books. Maybe the biggest thing I learned today after making about 60 doughballs and 20 pizzas is that low dome oven sure makes a big difference in how your pizzas cook and how they look. We made dough over and over by hand and in the mixer. It's really very simple and much less complicated than some of the methods I have read on here and elsewhere. We also made fresh mozzarella (Fiore di latte) and ricotta cheese. Jose is a great teacher and all the guys that run VPN Americas are a lot of fun! Seems really weird to be out here doing this but my wife gave me the gift certificate and I had frequent flyer miles! I'll post some photos and more details when I get back home

Couple of things-
1. Your oven turned out amazing.
2. That course sounds very interesting. Based on your feedback, I might need to check it out.

Incidentally I have been frequenting every wood fired pizza place I can find across the US. ( I travel for work) During these travels, I found myself in Atlanta and happened to get a recommendation to go to what is now- the high bar for the best pizza I have ever had.

The place is called "Antico" they have some videos on youtube that are fantastic. The dough is the best I have ever had and a taste that I have not been able to replicate. I do know that the Blue Caputo is better than the Red. Either way they do a 2 day preferment and the rest is the best ingredients that you could source.

Check out the videos. good stuff. Let us know how the course is....

[GarnerAC]

Thanks Novaslo! My oven turned out great mostly because of the great people here on this forum.

Guys, I had so much fun the last 3 days. The guys at VPN Americas were great hosts. Jose Barrios was a patient and thoughtful instructor. I did the 3 day session and was the only student 2 of the 3 days so it was almost 1 on 1 instruction. Neapolitan may not be my very favorite style but I do enjoy the simplicity of it. The VPN guys take this stuff extremely serious and it is fascinating the focus these guys have. We made all kinds of things and I learned so much.

I highly recommend it!

I took a ton of crappy phone photos and have labeled some of them for you guys.

[admin]

Doug,

Congrats on your VPN training! Peppe Miele is a great guy! Check out the webisodes of Peter Reinhart's visit with him on Pizza Quest - www.pizzaquest.com

[GarnerAC]

Doug,

Congrats on your VPN training! Peppe Miele is a great guy! Check out the webisodes of Peter Reinhart's visit with him on Pizza Quest - www.pizzaquest.com

Great stuff! Jose and Pepe were alot of fun!

[RandyJ]

Doug thanks for the review. It is almost word for word the same as the ones I found on yelp. So that is great. From the pictures I can see you had a ton of fun. It is cool that they showed you some other th hinges than just pizza. I am going to have to start planning for my trip out to see them. I am thinking next winter or fall maby.

Randy

[mirassou]

Love the pavilion!! Looks fabulous!

[mirassou]

Love the pavilion!! Looks fabulous!

[GarnerAC]

Not sure why... but this AM I decided to pull up my old build thread here on FB. Its been almost 10 years since my son and I started this. Its been fun and a great way to entertain and feed people! Good luck to all the new builders. Seems this stuff has really caught on here in the states in the last 10 years or so! I can see why!

[Gulf]

Hi Doug,

Welcome back for what ever the reason! It's always great to see one of the older builders back on the forum

The last couple or three years has seen a lot of new builds. Many folks finally took the plunge during the work from home days of the damnpenic. We were here for many of them. Sadly, the quick and easy methods featured on you tube and social media got to a lot of folks first. (IE: the gym ball method) Many of them found us when they were wanting to find help fixing what they had already started.

You've had many years experience with your oven and professional training to boot. How about hanging around and sharing some of that experience, food pics, and recipes?

[GarnerAC]

Hey Gulf....youve been here a while! Thanks for your help back then. Yeah for sure I see a lot of weak builds on FB and YT that wont hold up for a lifetime like what we all did here. There are some doing it right though.. Tscarborough really helped me alot. He actually came over and taught me a few things that have stuck with me. He lives 20 mins away. I have developed a style that works for me and havent strayed too much from it. Aside from Pizzas we cook some fish, steaks, desserts and breakfast dishes in it but dont really have any recipes....just use the oven where it is (in temp). The one recipe I use every time w pizza is Matt Sevignys "Basic White Pizza Sauce" Its basically a Garlic/Parm oil that I use as a finishing oil on pies. Also great for Garlic knots. There are a lot of ways to use it!

BASIC WHITE PIZZA SAUCE W/ GARLIC, PARMESAN & HERBS
PREP TIME
5 mins
TOTAL TIME
5 mins
A versatile white sauce recipe flavored with garlic, parmesan cheese, and herbs. Can be used on pizza, pasta, bread, veggies, seafood and meats.
Author: Mellissa Sevigny
Serves: 1/2 cup
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks

[Gulf]

Thanks for the recipe. I can already taste it on the garlic bread that I like to serve with oven cooked oysters. I will also try many of the other uses you mentioned. I had been watching for that recipe to show up again on Matt Sevigny's stonecutter Facebook group. Brick Oven Design, Construction & Use. There are many good builds showcased there with a lot of great advice. I can see the Forno Bravo influence in many of them. I can also recognize an oven pic from time to time. His is the only social media wfo oven group that I still allow to show my feed.

[GarnerAC]

Well 10 Years later I was wondering if any one of you who were so encouraging and helpful to me as I built my oven. I dont use it enough but Im throwing down about 15 pies tomorrow. Oven is holding up very well! Hope everyone is doing OK. Here are a couple new photos.

[Gulf]

Good to see that you back. That's probably the "hottest selfie" I've ever seen on the internet What brand of gopro can survive that kind of heat?

[UtahBeehiver]

plus one on Gulf's comment. Most of the gang is still floating around.

[SableSprings]

I agree with Joe on your making/taking the hottest selfie Pic around...first time seeing the world from a pizzas perspective is awesome. And as Russell noted, a lot of us "old timers" are still here & still firing! Wish we could be there for a slice of pie with you